DUSHANBE, December 2, 2008, Asia-Plus — On Monday December 1, a delegation of the European Commission, which is currently on a working visit here, met with Muhiddin Kabiri leader of the Islamic Revival Party (IPRT) also deputy of the Majlisi Namoyandagon (Tajikistan’s lower chamber of parliament), Hikmatullo Sayfullozoda, a spokesman for IRPT, said in an interview with Asia-Plus.
According to him, Ms. Charlotte Adrian, Charge D’Affaires, European Commission Delegation in Tajikistan, noted that the objective of the meeting was to exchange views on the situation in Central Asia and prospects of development of events in the region.
The European Commission delegation members stressed that the European Union attached significance to expansion of cooperation with Central Asia’s states.
For his part, Kabiri expressed gratitude to the European Union for assistance provided to Tajikistan. On the European Union’s Strategy for Central Asia, the IRPT leader stressed, “We want to play a positive role in the frames of this strategy that promotes strengthening of tolerance and mutual understanding.”
Proceeding from realities of the present social-political life of the country, Kabiri also touched upon issues related to state of the Islamic Revival Party, assessing it difficult, the spokesman said.
“Kabiri noted that on the one hand the IRPT as the opposition force should insist on solution by the government of a number of important issues while from the other hand it should be silent for mutual understanding,” Sayfullozoda said.
“In the course of the talks, Kabiri noted that during numerous meetings with representatives of the European Union, he has expressed concern about the fact that the Western states have not considered the issue of human rights and democracy in Asia considerable. According to him, they are concerned mostly about stability and the supply of oil, natural gas and other raw materials to Western markets,” Sayfullozoda said.
At the end of the meeting, they also discussed issues related to the upcoming visit of Kabiri to the European Union Headquarters in Brussels, the spokesman said.
